Spun: Ferraby Lionheart

By Amanda Hu

Folky, melancholy songs are taking control of pop music. Their slightly calming aura and slow, steady groove are becoming almost infectious.

With the release of Ferraby Lionheart’s Catch the Brass Ring, that doesn’t seem like such a bad thing. Channeling elements of Rufus Wainwright and Elliott Smith, Lionheart seems to trigger a muted nostalgia through his songs for charming moments you were never a part of.

Brass Ring’s opening “Uno Ballo Della Luna” is a low-fi offering with subtle vocal layering and loose guitar picking that could very well act as the perfect soundtrack for spending a sunny afternoon lazing about. “A Bell and Tumble” centres around a chugging guitar, pushing the song forward like a train car that builds with the addition of warm, upright bass and complementary horn lines. Lionheart’s melts and drips all over the song as he sings about chandeliers and candlelight. “Before We’re Dead” is a whimsical song with a bombastic Dixie-style opening that quips, “You can be high/ You can be low/ Under a tree/ Over the world.”

Catch the Brass Ring is a pleasant album with a enough variety between tracks within its overarching theme to make an interesting, cohesive collection.